


Fakes

by singingwithoutwords



Series: Marked [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, The Author Is An Awful Person, Tony Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2014-11-30
Packaged: 2018-02-27 14:32:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2696462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/singingwithoutwords/pseuds/singingwithoutwords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you're rich and famous and have soulmarks as well-known as Tony's, people are bound to try and take advantage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fakes

**Author's Note:**

> Still haven't found a good plot for the main story, so have more backstory while I work on that. Thanks to [AnonEhouse](http://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonEhouse/pseuds/AnonEhouse) for the idea.

Miranda painted her nails and lips red and told him soulmarks were old-fashioned. She left him for her soulmate without even acknowledging her hypocrisy.

Tiffany didn't wear makeup and let him kiss the target on the back of her neck. When Howard insisted on testing the mark for authenticity, she stomped out of his life and disappeared.

Adam was sweet and kind and told him he was wonderful. The lightning on his arm tested fake, and he shrugged and said that Tony's fortune had been too tempting not to try.

Sunset was seductive and dangerous and said it was all just fun. She sold his soulmarks to the tabloids for pocket change, then laughed in his face and called him a freak.

Ty was handsome and charming and ruthless and whispered while they fucked that Tony was too used for any of his soulmates to want him, anyway.

Becky held him close and told him there was nothing wrong with him. None of his soulmarks matched the rose on her ankle, so she never let him go all the way.

Mark, Janine, Youko, Estel, Greg, Tammy, Alexia, Beth, and Vicky branded themselves with fake targets. The lightning was trickier to get right, so only Samantha, Chelsea, and Ian tried it. Leo got the placement of the hourglass wrong. No one tried the arrows for some reason, and he was pretty sure no one knew about the tri-foil.

Pepper blew into his life one day like a perfect storm of efficiency and not taking his shit, and he never had to deal with another fake again. They still showed, a wave of them every time the tabloids had a slow week and dragged out the warmed-over articles about what an abomination he was, because his fortune and good looks were somehow enough to blind people to the Merchant of Death, but they never made it past Pepper. He could have kissed her for that.

(He did, once, drunk off his ass in the corner of some party; she smacked him and threatened to quit. He bought her a few thousand dollars worth of shoes, and didn't kiss her again until his blood was newly purged of palladium and she was his CEO.)

Tony was used to fakes, had accepted (for the most part) that he was never going to find the genuine article, and he really did love Pepper. He could have been happy with Pepper. Pepper was beautiful and wonderful and smart and too damn good for him. He was an awful excuse for a human being, because he recognized the heart between her shoulder blades when she finally let him see it, and he almost didn't tell her. He seriously considered keeping her for himself, and even if he hadn't actually _done_ it, he'd _wanted_ to.

He wasn't a complete monster, though- he just kissed her soulmark once and told her to get dressed, because sleeping with her would just be awkward, considering he'd already slept with her soulmate.

And he was happy, absolutely ecstatic for her. All the drinking he did after sending her off to be where she belonged was strictly in celebration.

Really.

He passed out in his bed, too big and too empty, with an open bottle in his hand, and he couldn't decide which were worse: the dreams of filthy water and burning sand, or the ones full of love and belonging he now knew for a fact he was never going to have.

 


End file.
